HASAKAH, Syria (North Press) – As winter is nearing, Hasina is daunted with challenges she and her family suffered last winter. Though insufficient, diesel was distributed belatedly as all winter basic needs.
Winter is a heavy guest received by the IDPs residing in camps in northeastern Syria since they receive a very few or no international aid by local charities or NGOs operating in the region in light of deteriorating economic conditions and increasing prices.
The 46-year-old Hasina al-Ali, an IDP from Tel Diyab in the countryside of Sere Kaniye (Ras al-Ain), looks with worry at the torn apart tent, which was pitched three years ago.
Al-Ali said, “We do not know how we would pass this winter! They [NGOs] have given us nothing, we do not know what to do?”
Sitting with her children in front of her tent in Washokani IDP camp, al-Ali complains about the dire situation they undergo. She could not afford to buy winter clothes nor covers “winter is a matter of weeks, up to now they have not given us clothes or even foam mattresses.”
IDPs residing in Sere Kaniye and Washokani camps in Hasakah are worried as winter is coming, bearing heavy challenges like the sufferings and hardships implied in winter of the past years.
Fears grow up as they remember the hardships they faced last winter as IDPs in Washokani camp, in west of Hasakah, suffered from lack of diesel heating.
Each family had only “four liters” of diesel per day, which was short of need. Each family needs 20 liters per day as temperatures are lower in camps.
Diesel distribution started in January. Those could not afford, a vast majority, to buy diesel spent a month and a half without diesel, according to IDPs living in the camp.
Insufficient aids
As a result of the military invasion of Sere Kaniye and Tel Abyad in October 2019 by Turkey and its affiliated armed Syrian opposition factions, nearly 300.000 people fled their homes, according to data given by the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES).
Washokani camp is a house to nearly 16.000 IDPs coming from the city of Sere Kaniye and its countryside, and 2.516 families reside in Sere Kaniye camp, numbering 14.548 individuals living in 2.794 tents.
A number of local societies and international organizations operate in both camps, providing “limited aid” while the United Nations Higher Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) does not recognize both camps, according to the camps’ administrations.
Al-Ali is bewildered either to secure foodstuff and basic needs for her children or buy clothes, mattresses and diesel. She hopes as many others in the camp to receive heating supplies before winter arrives in.
Co-chair of Washokani camp, Barzan Abdullah, said that the NGOs’ response to the IDPs needs is “insufficient and very limited” in winter.
Abdullah added that in the past two years and the current one “Response has been slow and services rendered have been very short. However, with the eruption of the Russian-Ukrainian war in February, there has been almost nothing rendered.”
On the probability of providing winter needs to IDPs, Abdullah affirmed up to now there has been no response to provide winter clothes for children, heating diesel, tents or blankets.
Delay in distribution
Amid this reality, IDPs have patched their tents with torn apart clothes or nylon sacks to prevent water leaking into the tent. However, this may not work as rainwater leaked into tents after the first rain drops last year.
In the same camp, the 43-year-old Zainab Muhammad, an IDP from Sere Kaniye, is unable to purchase winter supplies for her family, she wonders “How could we buy while we are living under such a tent,” in an indication to their grave living conditions.
Muhammad feels anxiety over any delay in distributing the diesel and other basic needs, saying, “In case we receive these needs in the middle of winter, they will be of no use.”
Riyad Merei, in charge of Relations Office in the Sere Kaniye camp, said that after a hard work of correspondence with NGOs operating in the camp, “so far, none of the NGOs has guaranteed to secure winter needs for the IDPs.”
He added, “They even delay the process of delivering entitlements, two days ago fans were delivered, as we are approaching winter.”
“IDPs’ entitlements are delivered at undue times. Winter-related needs, if available, are delivered in summer and vice versa,” Merei added.